Hilltop Holdings Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Hilltop Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 123.2% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 16,689 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,212 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 0.6% of Hilltop Holdings Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Hilltop Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $9,553,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lindenwold Advisors INC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC now owns 5,918 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,388,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC now owns 5,714 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,271,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,841 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,199,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the period. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,787 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,595,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the period. Finally, Kozak & Associates Inc. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.0% during the third quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 1,906 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,099,000 after buying an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ META opened at $576.43 on Monday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $313.66 and a twelve month high of $602.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73. The stock has a market cap of $1.46 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.05, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.22. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $575.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $527.76.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. On average, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.62 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 9.42%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total value of $5,166,159.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,591 shares in the company, valued at $29,776,261.56. This trade represents a 14.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total transaction of $407,167.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,901,598. This represents a 17.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 106,239 shares of company stock worth $59,681,541. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $645.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. JMP Securities upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $634.71.

About Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc engages in the development of products that enable people to connect and share with friends and family through mobile devices, personal computers, virtual reality headsets, and wearables worldwide. It operates in two segments, Family of Apps and Reality Labs. The Family of Apps segment offers Facebook, which enables people to share, discuss, discover, and connect with interests; Instagram, a community for sharing photos, videos, and private messages, as well as feed, stories, reels, video, live, and shops; Messenger, a messaging application for people to connect with friends, family, communities, and businesses across platforms and devices through text, audio, and video calls; and WhatsApp, a messaging application that is used by people and businesses to communicate and transact privately.